BITE ON TIME, ZICTA TOLD

Frustrated and dissatisfied would be an understatement to describe the feeling of Airtel subscribers over the past few weeks.

Aside from sporadic disruption of “essential” services on the 115 and 117 short codes, the network and internet services have been below par the expectations of customers from Zambia’s leading network service provider.

The recent network challenges come at the back of subscribers’ complaints over the quick depletion of data bundles and the service provider failing to give satisfactory answers.

It was only last month (November 3, 2023) when we at The Scoop wrote an editorial titled “One Day, Customers Will Bay for Airtel’s Blood” where we highlighted the disservice that Airtel has been subjecting citizens to and how the subscribers have been expressing concerns over the same.

We highlighted the need for Airtel to up their game and give the Zambian citizen the quality standard of service

But alas, our advice and concerns of citizens who form Airtel’s subscriber base seem to have fallen on deaf ears as the trend has continued over the past weeks.

Our position on this matter has not changed. We still feel the relevant authorities such as Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA) and Customer Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) are equally doing a disservice to the citizens for allowing such mediocrity to flourish under their watch.

The two statutory bodies have not done enough to protect the interest of the citizens and whether one likes it or not, it has a bearing on how citizens begin to perceive their government where these entities report to.

We however noted that ZICTA through its Corporate Communications Department did issue a statement expressing concerns over the recent intermittent network and service outages on the Airtel network but we feel it is a little too late.

We also noted that the Authority directed the service provider to compensate “all subscribers” in line with the approved compensation policy within five days starting from December 8, 2023.

Airtel indeed went ahead to compensate some affected customers but if the approved compensation policy is what is being used to compensate the subscribers, then the same policy needs an overhaul because the types of compensation that subscribers received leaves much to be desired.

Despite losing out on opportunities to make money using the service, some subscribers have reported being awarded a paltry 12 free minutes and some free SMSes, something which is equivalent to a K3 package on the same network!

It is high time that Airtel is held accountable for its shortcomings because the telecommunications industry has become a critical part of Zambia’s socio-economic developmental agenda.

Because of the ordeal, a lot of people and companies have lost opportunities of making money through mobile banking and internet service provision and such will not be recovered.

In today’s world where mobile banking has come to stay, it is difficult to imagine what an affected subscriber went through when they boarded a bus thinking that they would pay using the mobile money service only to find that there is completely no service at that particular time.

Perhaps this is also the right time to lobby for Airtel and other service providers to apply a human face when dealing with customer complaints.

Many customers have complained of erroneously purchasing more airtime than intended but the service providers are never helpful.

For example, a customer who intends to purchase airtime for K200 may erroneously add a zero at the end hence purchasing K2,000 worth of airtime but the service provider would say there is no reversal for such a transaction.

Such situations are what lead to frustrations among subscribers as they expect the service providers despite being in business to be sympathetic with their situations and find ways and means to help them in such situations.

It is also worth noting that scammers and fraudsters have continued preying on unsuspecting subscribers with the aim of stealing their hard-earned monies and ZICTA can do well to intensify efforts to curb the vice.

A day barely goes by without a subscriber receiving messages from scammers prompting them to perform certain operations on their devices that may be irritating to other subscribers, especially those who may have been scammed before.

It goes without saying that business clientele is what determines the fate of a business entity and for Airtel to emerge as a leading service provider means they have been doing something right which the customers agree with.

But in the telecommunications sector where advancement to technologies are key, what was right yesterday may not be necessarily right today technologies improve everyday and some of the once upon best services are being rendered obsolete.

Airtel may have grown comfortable with having a larger share of Zambia’s subscriber base but such is not something to take for granted.

Based on the aforementioned, all concerned stakeholders such as ZICTA, CCPC, Airtel Zambia and the subscribers must be engaged to charter a proper way forward that is mutually beneficial.

Or else, ZICTA like ZEMA must be given the teeth to truly bite all erring service providers without fear or favor because citizens cannot go on being subjected to such mediocre service provision like its for free.